


Stress Reliver

by Ticklishanimeboysaremylife



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Fluff, Just bros being bros, Other, Tickle fic, Tickling, slight angst if you squint
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-25
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-18 04:55:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,764
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28986705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ticklishanimeboysaremylife/pseuds/Ticklishanimeboysaremylife
Summary: Gansey discovers something new about himself and decides to use it to deal with a problem of his; Ronan is happy to help.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

“Hey. Dickhead. Move.”

Gansey glanced up at the fragmented words, barely a sentence, and raised an eyebrow. “It’s my couch.”

“Yeah, and it’s my legs you’re sitting on.”

“Move your legs then.”

Ronan narrowed his eyes. The weight of Gansey pressing into his legs was beginning to become painful, not to mention he had been sitting here first, ownership of the couch be damned. He hadn’t meant to do it, really, but having lived with brothers all his life, instinct just took over.

His fingers were moving before he could help it and Gansey let out a surprised snort of laughter as Ronan dug into his sides.

“R-Rohohonan?” Gansey yelped, confusion evident in his voice though he didn’t move away immediately. “Whahat are you dohoing?”

“Getting you to move.” He honestly hadn’t expected it to work. Gansey was so calm and composed most of the time that the thought of him being ticklish had never even occurred to Ronan. But here he was, giggling underneath Ronan’s fingers with a freeing helplessness that hadn’t been apparent on his face in years.

What a world they lived in.

“Stohohop,” Gansey cried frantically, apparently also unaware of his sensitivity. “I-Ihihi swehear, Rohoho—ohoho my god, nohoho!”

After Ronan hit a particularly sensitive spot under his ribs, Gansey finally jerked away from him and consequently off the couch. He let out a startled yelp, just managing to save the computer from falling as well. Satisfied in his mission, Ronan leaned back on the armrest, closing his eyes.

Gansey slowly clambered to his feet, setting the computer on a nearby desk to save it from further harm. He fixed his glasses, which had gotten knocked askew in his tumble. He glared at Ronan who in turn ignored the gesture in favor of a smug grin.

“You know I could get you back, right?” Gansey pointed out, clearly taking in the way Ronan sat completely spread out and exposed on the couch.

Ronan didn’t so much as twitch a muscle. “Try touching me and I’ll spend the rest of my day finalizing your funeral arrangements.”

Gansey didn’t move for a moment, clearly taking the threat into account, and finally snatched up his computer and stalked out of the room. Ronan settled into the creaky cushions, allowing himself to sink back into the relaxed state he had been in.

He had expected that to be the end of it, so when Gansey approached him a month later he had no idea the direction the conversation had been headed.

“Ronan.” 

“Gansey.” 

Gansey was nervous. Really nervous. It was difficult to tell with him sometimes as he usually preferred to keep his emotions sealed tightly under a charming grin. But now he fidgeted with his hands, his eyes only occasionally moving to focus on Ronan’s before flicking back to a spot on the left wall.

“As you know, focusing on both school activities and everything relating to it, as well as my search for Glendower has become rather, shall we say, taxing. What I’m really trying to get at is I’m stressed.”

Ronan raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment. It was rare that Gansey admitted when something was bothering him, and he didn’t want to ruin that with questions.

“Do you remember that moment, a couple weeks ago, when I sat on your legs to finish my paper, justified reasons I should add, to want to work on my own couch. And then you… um, you know.” Gansey gestured vaguely with his hands.

Ronan frowned. “No, I don’t know. Are you okay?” Possibly he was having a nervous breakdown. Or a stroke. That seemed likely from how much he was sweating.

“Never been better.”

“So?”

“So what?”

“What was I doing?”

Gansey’s cheeks burned as he answered. “You were tickling me.”

Confusion remained etched onto Ronan’s features. “Yeah, so?”

“So,” Gansey continued with gritted teeth. “I was wondering if you could, you know, do it again.” He paused. “If you want to, of course.”

Ronan blinked at him. Ganey was staring at him intently, as if trying to make up for his nervousness by intensity. The request had thrown Ronan for a loop, and he repeated the question, sure he had heard him wrong. “You want me to tickle you?”

Gansey flicked his tongue over his bottom lip nervously, his face somehow growing even redder at the mention of the word. “Y-Yes?”

Ronan leaned back on his bed, arms crossed as he examined Gansey critically. It was a show of how much Gansey wanted this that he had dared enter his room at all without permission or a death wish.

“Why?” he said at last after trying to form his own answer for the question and failing. It was a simple question, but from the look on Gansey’s face it was not as simple an answer.

“I’ve heard—I mean I’ve read, books that say t-tickling can relax the body and the mind,” Gansey said after a moment, both of them hearing the stutter and both of them choosing to ignore it. “It releases natural endorphins in the brain. I thought it might help.” He paused. “With the stress that is.”

Ronan sat forward, narrowing his eyes in determination. “Okay.”

“Okay?” Gansey repeated, confused. “Does that mean—whahahait!”

Ronan’s sudden pounce threw him off guard and Gansey fell back on the couch as his roommate dug ruthless fingers into his sides, his thumbs digging harshly into his ribs. Gansey found laughter startled from him and after a very uncharacteristic shriek he bit into his lip, trying desperately to hide the rest of the sounds that tried to escape.

“I’ve never had somebody ask for me to this,” Ronan commented curiously, his fingers climbing effortlessly up his sides. “But I’m not going to turn down an oppurtunity like this. God Gansey, I didn’t realize you were this ticklish.”

“I-I dihidn’t k-know!” Gansey replied honestly, squeezing his eyes shut. He was heavily losing the battle of wills he was playing against himself, and spluttering giggles slipped out despite himself. Every inch of him begged to shove Ronan off and end the torment immediately. He didn’t, though, choosing instead to curl up on the couch and feebly clutch his sides in an effort to protect them, an effort that was, ultimately, useless. “Ehehehe, ohohoho, g-gah! Nohohohoho!”

“I know you’re ticklish here,” Ronan said, darting his hands up to goose his sides, delighting in the startled yelp. “But I wonder where else.” His hands darted down to squeeze at his hips and Gansey honest-to-god squealed, a noise he would later deny ever making. His hands shot down to grab his wrists, but as Ronan had two brothers and had often found himself involved in vigorous tickle fights, he was undeterred by this action. His thumbs dug into the bone, gently rubbing it, and Gansey arched on the couch, his knee coming up to protect the ticklish nerves.

“Now we can’t have that.” Ronan shoved his knee back with his other hand, flipping them around so that Ronan sat on his stomach facing his legs, his hands now free to continue their relentless assault.

Gansey himself had only ever experienced Helen’s teasing pokes and a couple jabs by classmates, including Adam on occasion, so he was unprepared for the sheer intensity of real tickling. He couldn’t figure out the right way to react and compensated for this ignorance by flailing around in a way that was altogether quite useless. After a while he settled on lunging forward and wrapping his arms around Ronan’s torso. Ronan flinched, startled by the sudden movement, but after seeing that Gansey had zero plans to launch any kind of counterattack, he decided to let him be.

Their position did mean that hips were quite out of the picture however, so Ronan decided to move onto his legs. He squeezed curiously up and down his thighs for a bit, watching as Gansey twitched and chuckled. When he got to his knees, pinching right above the bone, he was rewarded with a frantic shriek right in his ear. Before he could even complain about the noise Gansey was shoving him off and scrambling to his feet.

“I-I think that’s enough for right now,” Gansey informed him in a forced business like tone, his cheeks a bright red. “If you don’t mind, I believe I have a project that’s due tomorrow, so I will be getting to that now.”

Ronan raised an eyebrow as he fled back to his room, his haste not unnoticed by the other. He decided to let him be for the moment, but there was no doubt in his mind that this would be the last time he exploited the other boy’s sensitivity. Not now that he knew about it. He tucked the information away for later and stalked out of the apartment to go find Adam.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gansey can’t stop thinking about Ronan tickling him to pieces on the couch and tries to seek the other out for a repeat of that day. Ronan is happy to oblige so long as he hears a certain confession from the other boy.

Gansey had been trying all week to get Ronan to tickle him, and the fifth time it happened Ronan finally caught on to what was happening.

After that first and second time on the couch, Ronan had left the other boy relatively alone. There were a couple moments when Ronan would jab him in the ribs, or that teasing smirk would play once again at his lips, moments where Gansey suspected he would pounce. Each time nothing happened. It was almost annoying as Gansey had been on edge ever since that day, waiting for Ronan to take advantage of his newfound information. As days and then weeks went by, however, Gansey began to accept that maybe he had forgotten. Or worse—maybe he was weirded out by the whole thing and was avoiding him on purpose. The thought was mortifying and Gansey tried to push it from his mind, though anxiety kept it there at the edges of his consciousness, needling away at him endlessly.

After a while of this strange radio silence from Ronan, Gansey decided to take matters into his own hands. The first time he had provoked Ronan into retaliation he had been acting like a dick; maybe it would work a second time.

When Gansey was feeling particularly stressed or needed something to help him focus, he would often turn on a playlist of classic jazz from the 60’s. Ronan was not a fan of this particular brand of music, something Gansey was well aware of. Hence why now he blasted it through all of Monmouth Manufacturing while leaning back in his chair and waiting. Sure enough, a couple minutes later he heard a bang, a muffled curse, and then Ronan stumbled out of the confines of his room. Gansey waited, casually twirling a pencil between his fingers as Ronan approached him.

“Turn it off.”

It was more of a demand than a request, but Gansey sat there stubbornly, refusing to touch his phone which was connected to a shitty stereo he had found at a gas station. He could have bought something of better quality, technically, but he preferred the retro aesthetic. It was yet another of the things that Adam often got annoyed at him for. “Why? Is it bothering you?”

“Obviously,” Ronan snarked. “I can’t hear myself over your damn music. I’m trying to sleep. Dream? You know? Work on my skills?”

“It’s three in the afternoon,” Gansey replied dryly.

Ronan examined him for a moment, making a mental calculation, before lunging forward and attempting to grab the stereo himself. Gansey had been expecting this, however, and quickly launched to his feet so that he was directly in-between his jazz and Ronan.

Ronan appeared startled by the confrontation; usually Gansey preferred to settle things peacefully. Still, he wasn’t one to give in easily so he narrowed his eyes, taking a step forward. “Move.”

“No.”

“Gansey.”

“Lynch.”

Ronan continued to glare at him for a moment, and Gansey could see his fingers twitching by his sides, the solution to their problem simple and easy if either was to act upon it. Triumph glimmered in Gansey’s eyes. 

To Gansey’s surprise, however, Ronan simply sighed, turning around suddenly and grabbing his keys off the desk.

“I’m going out,” was his only answer to Gansey’s questioning gaze, and then he was gone, leaving the latter alone in the house once more, having failed at his mission.

Gansey tried a couple more times after that, each time trying to find the right words that would provoke Ronan, small jabs that he was sure would make the other boy retaliate in kind. Each time it failed, leaving Gansey increasingly frustrated. His annoyance only grew as he watched Adam make the same kind of comments only to have Ronan pin him down on whatever surface they happened to be one, digging fingers into flailing skin. Gansey tried not to be jealous. The two were in a relationship after all; it only made sense that they would be more handsy with each other.

Still, Gansey couldn’t think of anything that he wasn’t doing. He stretched for abnormally long amounts of time whenever Ronan was around, raising his arms painstakingly above his head. He had even starting walking around the apartment shirtless, something that before would have mortified him. No matter what he did, Ronan would simply toss him a strange glance and then move on.

Maybe he wasn’t being overt enough. It pained him to be any more obvious than he was already being, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

“What are you doing?” Ronan asked when Gansey sat on the couch besides him, stretching his legs out so that they crossed over the former’s lap. Ronan was watching a movie, possibly a nature documentary though it seemed unlikely. He appeared less than pleased to suddenly have an entire extra Gansey on his person.

The Gansey in question shrugged, acting completely oblivious. “Sitting on my couch.”

“No, you’re sitting on me,” Ronan pointed out. He frowned down at the other boy’s legs for a moment, but after a while decided it was more trouble that it was worth to move him and settled back into the couch, turning his attention back towards the screen.

As it turned out, it was a nature documentary. Something about the dangerous lives of baby turtles, or something along those lines. It didn’t seem like the sort of thing Ronan would watch, but he appeared fully engaged as one, thus far successful, turtle evaded hungry seabirds and pointy rocks.

Gansey on the other hand, found himself fully unable to focus on the TV. All he could think about was how Ronan’s hand, stretched out as it was on the armrest, was mere inches away from his feet and how easy it would be for Ronan to tickle him at that exact moment. His heart raced with strange nerves at the thought, desperately hoping that Ronan would take the hint and he wouldn’t have to say anything.

Half an hour passed in the same tense silence. Around then, however, Gansey managed to catch the other’s eye and just noticed a smirk play over Ronan’s lips before he redirected his attention back to the TV. That was when Gansey suddenly realized that they had both been playing separate games all along.

Ronan knew. 

Of course he knew. He hadn’t been oblivious to Gansey’s attempts, he had merely been willfully ignorant. He knew exactly what he was doing right now and he was going to make Gansey say it because Ronan was an unforgivable sadist.

It shouldn’t have been as hard as it was to say the words out loud. He could play off his last request as a fluke, a momentary bad decision, a play for attention. This, however, would be an admittance of a desire that Gansey had only just come to realize in himself. After that day on the couch he had found himself unable to think of anything but Ronan’s fingers digging into his sides, his hips, right above his knee. He had tried replicating the sensation with his own fingers, but it hadn’t been the same.

One month. That’s how long the want had been festering inside of him, and he could feel it at the edge of his mind, desperate to escape. So, swallowing his pride, Gansey finally gave in.

“Could you—” he started, breaking off suddenly. Ronan turned to face him casually, arching an eyebrow and waiting for the words he had known were coming for weeks now. “Uh, could you, maybe… you know… er, that thing you did before… the, uh, the tickling thing?”

Ronan grinned then and simultaneous relief and nerves flooded Gansey’s system as he realized he wasn’t angry or disgusted. The next words that came out of his mouth, however, shattered that relief into a million tiny pieces. “Why?”

Gansey swallowed audibly. “Uh, I’m sorry, what?”

“Why do you want me to tickle you?” Roan repeated calmly.

Fuck.

Shit.

Fuck.

Gansey was going to kill Ronan. Sure, it would be unfortunate for Adam and even Henry had started to grow fond of him, but at the moment it seemed the only way for him to get out of answering the question.

“Well…” Gansey started and then faltered, trying to think of a way to phrase it without sounding like a lunatic. Because he needed it? Because the unbearable sensation had been haunting him for a month now? Because the only way for him to get rid of this ball of stress in his stomach was to be able to laugh and squirm freely under devious fingers?

“Hmm?”

“I… sort of… like it?” Gansey cringed even as he said the words. “When you tickle me that is.” He cleared his throat awkwardly. “I like you… uh, I like you tickling me. I don’t know… why, necessarily. I guess I just enjoy the feeling, not, like, in a weird way. I just…” He tugged at his collar in the most Gansey-like gesture to ever have been attempted. “It helps me relax I suppose, and it feels… nice?”

Ronan examined him for a moment, a moment where Gansey waited on edge for him to respond, and finally said, “Okay.”

“O-Okay?” Gansey repeated slowly, uncertain if he had heard him right. “Okay what?”

“Okay, now we’re getting somewhere.” Quick as lightning Ronan had snatched his ankles up in one arm, Gansey’s eyes wide at the sudden helpless position. “Now I believe there was a certain request you had made of me?

“Y-Yeah,” Gansey stammered, unable to stop a helpless grin from taking over his features. “I mean, if that’s okay with you?”

The request was so unnecessarily polite that Ronan felt it was now his sworn duty to wreck the boy to pieces.

He started out light, however, wanting to lull him into a false sense of security. Gansey’s smile widened as nimble fingers drew slow circles over his feet, softly tracing the outline of the soles. Gansey hadn’t been sure before if his feet were even ticklish at all, but due to the electric currents running up his legs he figured it was a safe assumption to make.

Ronan started gently scratched his nails against the ball of his foot, startling a squeak out of Gansey that he quickly muffled by pressing a hand against his mouth. The squeak soon turned into a couple of hesitant giggles, his leg jerking against Ronan’s hold.

“I thought you wanted me to tickle you?” Ronan inquired innocently when Gansey’s struggling increased due to fingers raking suddenly down his soles. “I mean, you were the one who asked for this.”

“I-I did,” Gansey agreed, shifting on the couch as he tried to adjust himself to the sensation. “It just—ah, pfft, hmm—it just—nohoho, wait—”

“Tickles?” Ronan filled in for him and Gansey was only able to nod in response as Ronan suddenly dug in with vigor, spidering his fingers with quick intensity all over his soles.

Gansey’s response was instant. He jerked forward on the couch, one hand outstretched as if to stop him, before falling uselessly back again. “Rohohohohohonan!”

“This is incredible,” Ronan muttered with a shit-eating grin. “I can’t believe you’re ticklish and you like it, and somehow we never found out about this. I guess I’m going to have to make up for lost time.”

“Y-Yohohou’re an ahahahass!” Gansey complained, one hand covering his face to hide his growing blush while the other furiously gripped the couch in an attempt to prevent himself from stopping the other.

“I’m a what now?” Ronan dug under his toes and Gansey snorted, leg twitching involuntarily. “I don’t think you’re in any position to be back-talking right now.”

“W-Whahahat ihihif Ihihihi, gahahaha, whahahat ihihihif ihihi tihihihickled yohohou?” Gansey shot back, the threat sounding much less intimidating through helpless giggles.

Ronan couldn’t help but be aware how vulnerable his torso was, however, as both arms were occupied with Gansey’s legs. He stiffened, glaring back at his friend. “Then you’d be dead and I’d get revenge tenfold.”

“Ahahafter, or behehehefore y-yohohou kihihilled mehehe?” Gansey pointed out.

“You’ll never get to know, because you’ll never try it.”

“W-Wahahanna behehet?”

The shaky, laughter-filled words had Ronan immediately on edge. Before he could say anything back, Gansey had lunged forward and latched both hands onto his ribs, vibrating his fingers against the bone. Ronan choked on a laugh, the intensity of the sudden tickling making him immediately release Gansey’s legs and dart his elbows down protectively. Gansey had a precious few moments of wrecking Ronan’s torso while the other was still paralyzed with snorts and laughter from the sudden attack, before Ronan whirled around and grabbed each of his wrists, pulling them above his head.

Gansey swallowed as he stared up at him. “Hello there.”

“Hey,” Ronan said, a sadistic fire burning in his eyes that had Gansey’s nerves thriving with excitement.

“I don’t suppose there’s any chance that you’ve decided to forget revenge and let me go?” he inquired hopefully.

“I don’t know.” Ronan switched his hold to one hand so that the other could slowly walk up the length of his right side. Gansey squirmed apprehensively at the touch. “What do you think?”

Gansey squeezed his eyes shut, giggling as the fingers reached his armpits. “N-No?”

“I guess you do have some brains in you after all.”

Monmouth Manufacturing was soon filled with the sounds of Gansey’s hysterical laughter. After that, Ronan sought Gansey out for a repeat of that day, almost as often as Gansey sought him out. There was never a quiet day between the two again.

Gansey decided that he should be honest with his friends more often.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can find me at my tumblr: https://happyandticklish.tumblr.com/

**Author's Note:**

> You can find me over at my tumblr: https://happyandticklish.tumblr.com/


End file.
